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Romi Burks

Professor of Biology

Areas of expertise

Aquatic ecology, wetland science, apple snails, invertebrate biology

I am an aquatic ecologist interested in how organisms interact within and impact shallow lakes and ponds. My graduate work focused on looking at predator-avoidance behaviors in an important aquatic herbivore, Daphnia, that influences whether lakes exist in a clear or turbid state.

Since my arrival at Southwestern, my lab has been taken over (somewhat literally!) by an exotic, invasive apple snail, Pomacea maculata (formerly P. insularum). We have been studying this snail for 8 years now and still have a lot to learn. Advances in the field have been happening faster than we can investigate. For the most recent work on invasive apple snails, I recommend this great new scientific blog (Snailbusters).

Receiving my Ph.D. in the lab of noted exotic species authority Dr. David Lodge at the University of Notre Dame has helped me switch my current research emphasis to questions associated with invasion biology. In particular, I collaborate with student researchers to investigate multiple aspects of basic life history of this new invader. In addition, the work has expanded to include an international collaboration in Uruguay where native apple snails occur.

Teaching Philosophy

How I seek to "Engage Minds and Transform Lives"
I teach because I never stopped being a student. My alma mater, Loyola University Chicago, recently adopted a new motto that states their dedication to preparing students to live extraordinary lives. Live beyond the ordinary. I have learned that the extraordinary aspect of living comes when we learn to function comfortably outside the norm, or ordinary. In The Courage to Teach, Education expert Parker Parmer writes of the courage necessary to take on this extraordinarily influential role of a teacher and states that students who learn are the finest fruits of teachers who teach. If I considered myself the fruit in that metaphor, I matured under close guidance of my professors. Now, I plant my own seeds, nourish them with 3 basic truths and watch them transform.
Truth 1: Teach who you are (Live the Teacher-Scholar Model)
I place much faith in the practice of teach who you are. I am a planner, a scientist, an English major, a systematic individual, a lover of rubrics, an animal lover and a pretty creative thinker, although the dominance of these personalities changes depending on the task. I am also intense (students sometimes unfortunately mistake this for intimidating). I prefer the terms dedicated, direct and passionate. I believe in the learning process. Teaching who I am translates into genuine enthusiasm for teaching that students clearly recognize. I think this goes a long way toward being a successful long-term Southwestern faculty member. My undergraduate experience at a liberal arts university shaped the way I see connections between teaching and disciplines. By willing to experiment with innovative approaches, extraordinary things happen.
Truth 2: Make your classroom another lab (enhancing the Teacher half of the model)
For me, part of engaging minds involves shifting the way students approach questions. I wear many different hats during any given day at Southwestern. However, my scientist hat feels permanently glued to my head and my approach to each class mirrors my scientific side. Through experimenting with different teaching strategies and pedagogies, I refine my approaches in small slices. Without frequent enough change, things get stale. Still, I try and resist changing too much at once. I try to see each class as a series of small-scale experiments. Somewhat literally, I hope that I routinely engage a lot of little wheels turning in the heads of my students when I stress that everything eventually connects to everything else and that the study of life does not occur in a vacuum but spans disciplines. Of the few hundred evaluations of Biodiversity, one in particular sticks in my mind. I don?t remember which year but one student wrote something like 'Dr. Burks ruined me. I cannot watch TV, go shopping or to the movies or even relax without finding examples of biology everywhere.' I do not know if the student meant that as a compliment but I take it as one.
Truth 3: Make your lab another classroom ? (enhancing the Scholar half of the model)
My experience has taught me that the extraordinary happens through the process of teaching students the art of doing ecological research. In the beginning, I found it hard to recruit students early enough to invest in the long-term nature of research. I also found that snails are not necessarily as sexy to students as something medically-related like cancer. It takes my enthusiasm for the crazy critters or the word from one of the already ecologically-converted to convince some students otherwise. Students make up my lab community and I consider them real contributors to the research. The practice of guiding students through the complete scientific process (i.e. where outcome results in some type of publication) serves as the best evidence of my teaching effectiveness. I look for every opportunity to combine teaching and research. I do not consider them separate or opposing pursuits. I teach research methods and I research teaching methods.